Big Blue Preview: Kentucky vs. Northern Arizona

After winning its first two games of the season, No. 24 Kentucky fell to Kansas on Tuesday night in the Champions Classic in Chicago. Now, the Cats return home, where they will face Northern Arizona on Friday night at Rupp Arena (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network Plus).

Against Kansas, Zoom Diallo scored 24 points and Malachi Moreno had a career-high 19, but the Cats lost 89-69. Turnovers were an issue for the Cats in the game. UK had 15 turnovers and Kansas turned those into 22 points. Kansas had 10 turnovers, but Kentucky had no points off those miscues.

The Cats had won their first two games of the season before Tuesday’s loss. Kentucky rolled past Manhattan 85-57 in the season opener behind 24 points from Milan Momcilovic, who hit six of nine from behind the arc in the victory. Zoom Diallo had 12 points for the Cats and Alex Wilkins had 11 points, seven steals and five assists.

The Cats made 32 of 60 (53.3 percent) from the floor, including 12 of 31 (38.7 percent) from three-point range.

In the second game of the season, UK fought hard to get past James Madison 89-80. On Friday, Kentucky placed five players in double figures. Diallo and Wilkins each scored 16 points to lead the Cats, while Justin McBride scored 13 against his former team. Mason Williams came off the bench to score 12 points and Braydon Hawthorne added 10.

Northern Arizona is 0-3 on the season, having dropped three road games. The Lumberjacks lost at UNLV 89-77 in the season opener, then fell to New Mexico 94-65. Most recently, NAU lost at Arizona 90-59.

Sophomore guard Chris Komin has been a bright spot for Northern Arizona. Through three games, he is averaging 20.7 points per outing.